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Id
145
Title
Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell
Date
24/02/1988
Country
UNITED STATES (North and Central America)
Judicial Body
Supreme Court
Case number
485 U.S. 46
Main themes
Defamation
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Type of expression
Parody
Decision direction
Expands expression
Outcome
The Supreme court reversed the lower court decision.
Link to analysis
Summary
The national evangelical Christian leader, Reverend Jerry Falwell, took his case against Hustler magazine to the US Supreme Court accusing them of intentional infliction of emotional distress after they published a parody of an advertisement suggesting that Falwell’s first sexual experience occurred with his mother in an outhouse. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals ruling stating that public figures and public officials could not recover for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress by reason of publications unless the publication contained a false statement of fact which was made with ‘actual malice'.